THE TENACITY OF REMEMBERING

An interactive community project dealing with the occupation of Tibet,presented by Mark Dugally and Ann-Louise MirandaApril 4th - April 21st, 2019

Walking in the Center, you will be greeted by a row of candles down a long, dark hallway. With each candle will be a tiger lamp and a picture of a Tibetan who self-immolated.

The Tenacity of Remembering is a city-wide, two-phase art project seeking to bring awareness to the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the ever increasing abuse of Tibetan Buddhists and citizens alike.

The first phase consists of 150 “Tiger Lamps”. These are golden tiger statues that will be placed strategically around Portland to bring light to the 150 self-immolations (public suicide by fire) that have occurred, as protest, since 2009 by monks and citizens alike. The tiger represents the final statement of monk Lama Sopa before he self-immolated. The monk likened his brutal sacrifice to that of the Buddha who felt compassion and gave his life to a starving tigress in the woods, because she was so hungry she was about to devour her own cubs to survive.

In the second phase, thirteen or more altars will be set up throughout the city. They will be open for all varieties of involvement, from sponsorship, decoration, performance and other forms of public involvement. Eventually they will be brought back to the EJArt Center for a fundraiser to help the nation of Tibet become whole again.

Every tiger lamp in the series with be available for sale, with the majority of the proceeds going to "Free Tibet". Lamps can be purchased and dedicated to a friend or family member. At the end of the project, your lamp will be held for you at the Elisabeth Jones Art Center for collection.